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From ceremony to therapy: how music could help to heal traumatised troops From ceremony to therapy: how music could help to heal traumatised troops
(4 months later)
Music is to be prescribed as therapy for soldiers suffering from the physical or mental effects of war, in a new initiative across the armed forces.Music is to be prescribed as therapy for soldiers suffering from the physical or mental effects of war, in a new initiative across the armed forces.
The army's most senior musician, Lieutenant Colonel Bob Meldrum, is taking part in a ground-breaking conference on music and the trauma of war later this month in the City of London. It will look at the potential of music to rehabilitate troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, many suffering post-traumatic stress and physical injuries. Musicians of the Royal Artillery Band and the Band of the Adjutant General's Corps are among other military personnel attending the two-day conference.The army's most senior musician, Lieutenant Colonel Bob Meldrum, is taking part in a ground-breaking conference on music and the trauma of war later this month in the City of London. It will look at the potential of music to rehabilitate troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, many suffering post-traumatic stress and physical injuries. Musicians of the Royal Artillery Band and the Band of the Adjutant General's Corps are among other military personnel attending the two-day conference.
Conference director Ian Ritchie said there was a growing realisation within the forces that military musicians can play a therapeutic role – taking music beyond "the parade ground and raising morale, playing for special occasions and generally being ceremonial and upbeat" to become part of the healing process.Conference director Ian Ritchie said there was a growing realisation within the forces that military musicians can play a therapeutic role – taking music beyond "the parade ground and raising morale, playing for special occasions and generally being ceremonial and upbeat" to become part of the healing process.
At a recent meeting at the Royal Military School of Music, at Kneller Hall in London, the agenda included "the trauma and the post-traumatic stress that is now the modern-analysed description of shell-shock" and its treatment with music.At a recent meeting at the Royal Military School of Music, at Kneller Hall in London, the agenda included "the trauma and the post-traumatic stress that is now the modern-analysed description of shell-shock" and its treatment with music.
Ritchie said that involving the army's musicians with such therapy would extend the role they traditionally played in medical care, such as rescuing injured soldiers from the battlefield and acting as stretcher-bearers.Ritchie said that involving the army's musicians with such therapy would extend the role they traditionally played in medical care, such as rescuing injured soldiers from the battlefield and acting as stretcher-bearers.
Captain Craig Hallatt, the Royal Artillery Band's director of music, told the Observer: "Since the second world war, there has been a realisation that healing can be helped by music, and can even work as therapy for physical injuries. So we're really concentrating on that quite heavily now with Headley Court [the rehabilitation centre for injured service personnel]. They now have their own music room, with pianos, guitars and percussion instruments."Captain Craig Hallatt, the Royal Artillery Band's director of music, told the Observer: "Since the second world war, there has been a realisation that healing can be helped by music, and can even work as therapy for physical injuries. So we're really concentrating on that quite heavily now with Headley Court [the rehabilitation centre for injured service personnel]. They now have their own music room, with pianos, guitars and percussion instruments."
He added: "Going to Afghanistan, and then completing the circle by going down to Headley Court and helping with the casualties from that conflict, makes us musicians feel part of what we need to be doing."He added: "Going to Afghanistan, and then completing the circle by going down to Headley Court and helping with the casualties from that conflict, makes us musicians feel part of what we need to be doing."
Army musicians perform for injured servicemen at Headley Court, but they have yet to participate routinely in more direct therapy, said Meldrum, who is the army's principal director of music.Army musicians perform for injured servicemen at Headley Court, but they have yet to participate routinely in more direct therapy, said Meldrum, who is the army's principal director of music.
"We're playing for them, so there's some therapeutic benefit – stimulating their senses and relaxing them with distractions from what they're dealing with. But we'd like to take that a stage further and engage with professionals in the healthcare side of the armed forces. That could be getting these injured personnel involved in making music, playing instruments. It's very new. It's something we've got to explore.""We're playing for them, so there's some therapeutic benefit – stimulating their senses and relaxing them with distractions from what they're dealing with. But we'd like to take that a stage further and engage with professionals in the healthcare side of the armed forces. That could be getting these injured personnel involved in making music, playing instruments. It's very new. It's something we've got to explore."
He spoke of the "staggering" effect music can have, recalling his own experiences of concerts in Kosovo and the Gulf war, lifting the spirits of soldiers facing "uncertainty, threat of injury and death, and the lack of other stimulation". Musicians could play an equally important role once a conflict is over, he added.He spoke of the "staggering" effect music can have, recalling his own experiences of concerts in Kosovo and the Gulf war, lifting the spirits of soldiers facing "uncertainty, threat of injury and death, and the lack of other stimulation". Musicians could play an equally important role once a conflict is over, he added.
The conference, entitled Worlds in Collision and organised by charity The Musical Brain, takes place at Mansion House on 28 and 29 June, and will be attended by musicians, therapists, neurologists and historians as well as soldiers. It forms part of this year's City of London Festival and has been organised in partnership with, among others, the army and the Kings Centre for Military Health Research. The speakers will include Dr Julie Sutton, a specialist in psychological trauma and music therapy. Neurological studies have proved the impact of music on the body, she said.The conference, entitled Worlds in Collision and organised by charity The Musical Brain, takes place at Mansion House on 28 and 29 June, and will be attended by musicians, therapists, neurologists and historians as well as soldiers. It forms part of this year's City of London Festival and has been organised in partnership with, among others, the army and the Kings Centre for Military Health Research. The speakers will include Dr Julie Sutton, a specialist in psychological trauma and music therapy. Neurological studies have proved the impact of music on the body, she said.
"Our pulses can change to chime in with the music. Our physical state can change in response to music. It can energise us, and calm us. Someone traumatised is in a beyond-terrified state with no sense of themselves in time. Flashbacks are not memories but the actual event. Music gives a physical sense of a beat that goes through time. It creates a sense of time moving forward. If you have contact with music, your state changes.""Our pulses can change to chime in with the music. Our physical state can change in response to music. It can energise us, and calm us. Someone traumatised is in a beyond-terrified state with no sense of themselves in time. Flashbacks are not memories but the actual event. Music gives a physical sense of a beat that goes through time. It creates a sense of time moving forward. If you have contact with music, your state changes."
The conference will include a concert programme ranging from standard military fare such as William Walton's Crown Imperial and patriotic pieces to more reflective repertoire, including a movement from a violin concerto by French composer Édouard Lalo. Professor Nigel Osborne, a composer and expert in music and therapy, has brought together pieces by soldier-composers of the first world war, such as songs by Ivor Gurney, who wrote while fighting on the Somme, which will be performed by the Royal Artillery Band.The conference will include a concert programme ranging from standard military fare such as William Walton's Crown Imperial and patriotic pieces to more reflective repertoire, including a movement from a violin concerto by French composer Édouard Lalo. Professor Nigel Osborne, a composer and expert in music and therapy, has brought together pieces by soldier-composers of the first world war, such as songs by Ivor Gurney, who wrote while fighting on the Somme, which will be performed by the Royal Artillery Band.
Ritchie said of the programme: "What it represents is a much broader repertoire that covers the introspective and the very extrovert, that covers the raising of morale but also the reflection that comes from other qualities of music."Ritchie said of the programme: "What it represents is a much broader repertoire that covers the introspective and the very extrovert, that covers the raising of morale but also the reflection that comes from other qualities of music."
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